Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Is bicycle culture accessible?

First of all, what the hell is "bicycle culture"?
As someone who might be in a skinsuit on the velodrome on a friday night or dressed like a hobo pulling kids or groceries in a trailer on wednesday morning or riding to work any old day in a plain old wool jersey- I struggle with the question. I get opinions on what bike you should be riding, what clothes you should be wearing, and what kind of riding you should be doing all the time. Most of the time it is contradictory. For as much time as I spend riding or repairing or geeking out on bikes, I don't feel all that wired into a bicycle community. So when the racers are talking down their noses at hipsters, and the tweed set are doing the same towards the idiotic Lance Armstrong wannabes- who is right?
Everyone has preferences for certain equipment or styles of riding. Mine has changed a lot in the last 10 years, and probably will continue to change.
The secret, I think, is this: if you are riding a bicycle and you are having fun- you are doing it right and you are a part of it!